"The Maryland Department of the Environment has formally threatened to sue the operator of three coal-fired power plants in the state for allegedly polluting ground and surface water with coal ash it's dumping in two unlined landfills.

MDE issued notices of intent to sue Mirant Mid-Atlantic, LLC and Mirant Maryland Ash Management, LLC in federal court over ash disposal at Westland or Dickerson in Montgomery County and Faulkner in Charles County.

The action comes after a federal lawsuit filed by the state last year against Mirant over ash disposal at a third landfill in Brandywine in Prince George's County. The agency also has a pending lawsuit in state court over the Faulkner ash landfill, but said in a news release it now plans to consolidate all the cases in federal court."